By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

The Waverly Tigers took a timeout they didn’t have. As a result, the Ironton Fighting Tigers took a win from the extra chance.

Trailing 70-69, Ironton missed a 3-point attempt with time running out in overtime and Waverly got the rebound. But Waverly called a timeout they didn’t have and were assessed a technical foul with one second on the clock.

Zac Carter made both attempts to give Ironton a 71-70 win and deal Waverly its seventh loss by three points or less on the season.

“There were a lot of good things and a lot of bad things the whole game, but I felt like our kids in the last three or four minutes did some things wrong physically, and still our kids mentally kept their heads in the game,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

Carter led Ironton with 23 points including 20 in the second half. Travis Elliott scored 20 whle Trey Fletcher had 14.

Jake Kretzer had a huge game for Waverly (6-8) with 33 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Harrison Martin scored 16.

Ironton (9-5) started strong as Fletcher scored eight points including back-to-back trifectas that put the Fighting Tigers up 18-9 at the 1:02 mark.

Trevor White’s layup just before the buzzer pushed the lead to 20-9.

But as good as Ironton was in the first quarter, it was that bad in the second quarter.

The Fighting Tigers managed just four points in the quarter as they made only 2 of 10 floor shots.

Martin scored six points and Kretzer buried a long 3-pointer to get Waverly within 22-21 at the 1:57 mark.

White’s driving layup ended almost a four-minute scoring drought but Harrison’s short jumper got Waverly within 24-23 at the half.

Waverly had six second-chance baskets off offensive rebounds in the third quarter as each team scored 17 points.

A putback by Martin tied the game at 36 but Carter’s triple with 1:17 on the clock gave Ironton a 39-36 lead and the Fighting Tigers led 41-40 at the end of the quarter.

Kretzer hit a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter as Waverly took its first lead at 43-41, but Elliott had a putback of his own, hit two foul shots and then made a layup to give Ironton a 47-43 lead.

Elliott’s layup with 4:32 left opened up a 52-46 lead, but Kretzer heated up and hit three more shots from beyond the arc and his steal and layup with 2:42 left gave Waverly a 56-54 lead.

Two foul shots by Jean Paul White gave Waverly a 58-54 lead. Carter hit a trey and it was 58-57 but Martin got a quick-strike layup and the lead was 60-57.

Carter then hit a 3-pointer while falling to the floor and the game was tied with 13 seconds left.

Kretzer forced up a long 3-pointer that missed badly and went out of bounds with 2.7 seconds on the clock. Carter’s half-court shot at the buzzer just missed forcing the overtime.

“They did a good job of beating us with their offense. They’re a very good team and they’ve lost a lot of games at the end just like this,” said LaFon.

Waverly 9 14 17 20 10 = 70

Ironton 20 4 17 19 11 = 71

WAVERLY (6-8): Devin Kelly 0 2 0-0 6, Taylor Ward 3 0 1-2 7, Jean Paul White 0 2 2-2 6, Jake Kretzer 7 5 4-4 33, Harrison Martin 8 0 0-2 16, Davis Remy 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-57 7-10 70. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 9-25. Rebounds: 10 offense, 20 defense = 30 (Kretzer 13, Martin 8). Assists: 15 (Kretzer 7). Steals:5 (Kretzer 2). Turnovers: 10.

IRONTON (9-5): Malcolm Morton 1 0 0-1 2, Travis Elliott 8 0 4-7 20, Zac Carter 1 5 6-6 23, Trevor White 4 0 0-0 8, Trey Fletcher 3 2 2-2 14, Nick Culbertson 1 0 0-0 2, Josh Glover 1 0 0-0 2, Tanner Schweickart 0 0 0-0 0, Nolan Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-49 12-16 71. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-17. Rebounds: 6 offense, 17 defense = 23 (White 7, Fletcher 6, Carter 5). Assists: 15 (Morton 7, Carter 4). Steals: 7 (White 2, Morton 2). Turnovers: 13.